stumbling toward divinity

friday five, a day late... as usual

Pottermania has hit over at the RevGals, and so they have a Harry Potter themed Friday Five.  They also have one for those who aren't too excited about the new movie and book.  I happen to be excited. 

Option 1: Accio Friday Five!

1. Which Harry Potter book is your favorite and why?
I've become a big fan of The Order of the Phoenix.  The character development was good, I thought, and really showed a lot of the young wizards coming into their own.

2. Which character do you most resemble? Which character would you most like to get to know?
I think Ron Weasley.  Ron is a funny and trustworthy guy, but things just never seem to come together for him.  He tries his best, but things often backfire and he ends up puking slugs.  Plus, in the movies, he makes funny faces.  And I'd really like to get to know Neville Longbottom better.

3. How careful are you about spoilers?
a) bring 'em on--even if I know the destination, the journey's still good
b) eh, I'd rather not know what happens, but I'm not going to commit Avada Kedavra if someone makes a slip
c) I will sequester myself in a geodesic dome to avoid finding anything out
Well, considering I found out the big shocker in The Half-Blood Prince before I read it (you know, the whole Snape/Dumbledore thing), and I handled it well, I think I'd go with option (b).  I would have rather found out reading it in the book, but a friend didn't know I hadn't read it yet and mentioned it in a conversation.  She felt much, much worse than I did.

4. Make one prediction/share one hope about book 7.
Mine are a lot similar to other peoples'.  Please, don't let Harry die.  If he dies, or has to sacrifice himself so that Voldemort can be defeated, that would be totally cliche and predictable.  Please let Dumbledore and Sirius be alive.  I know in real life that death is final, and the loved ones we lose don't get to come back.  But this isn't real life.  It's a book.  And they can come back if you want them to!!!!

5. Rowling has said she's not planning any prequels or sequels, but are there characters or storylines (past or future) that you would like to see pursued?
I would LOVE to know what happens to all of the young wizards once they graduate.  What do they go on to do?  Who gets a job at the Ministry of Magic?  Who joins the Defense against the Dark Arts?  Who goes on and becomes a teacher at Hogwarts, or a famous scholar, or something like that!  I'd love to know!!



Option 2: Please Mommy, Anything But Those Blankety-Blank Books!

And we do mean anything:

1. Former U.S. First Lady "Lady Bird" Johnson died this week. In honor of her love of the land and the environment, share your favorite flower or wildflower.
I'd say lilacs or daisies.  I love the way that lilacs smell, and I love the way that daisies look.

2. A man flew almost 200 miles in a lawn chair, held aloft by helium balloons. Share something zany you'd like to try someday.
Definitely not THAT.  I'd completely wet myself.  I'm more for something tame like traveling to all 50 states in an RV or something like that.

3. Do you have an iPhone? If not, would you want one?
No and no. 

4. Speaking of which, Blendtec Blenders put an iPhone in one of their super-duper blenders as part of their "Will It Blend?" series. What would YOU like to see ground up, whizzed up or otherwise pulverized in a blender?
I would love it if cops would pull over people who are driving and talking on the cellphone, and then make the people watch as their cellphones are blended in the blender.  I saw someone nearly run another person off the road because she was blabbering into her cellphone and not paying attention when she changed lanes.

5. According to News of the Weird, a jury in Weld County, Colo., declined to hold Kathleen Ensz accountable for leaving a flier containing her dog's droppings on the doorstep of U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, apparently agreeing with Ensz that she was merely exercising free speech. What do you think? Is doggy doo-doo protected by the First Amendment?
I think that's asinine.  Putting a bag of dog poo is NOT exercising free speech.  It's putting crap on someone's porch.  It required Musgrave, or someone else, to remove the dog crap from her own property and dispose of it.  It sounds stupid and immature to me, and not like a useful or legitimate exercise of free speech.  Why don't we all exercise OUR free speech and go put dog poo on the porch of the judge/jury who ruled this?

christmas meme

This is a Christmas Meme I was tagged to do a while ago.  I started on it, and then saved it to finish it later.  There are some similarities to the RevGal Friday Five, but oh well. 

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Growing up, I remember having egg nog and not being impressed with it.  So, I would be inclined to say Hot Chocolate.  However, knowing now that adult egg nog has extra deliciousness included, I want to try it before I answer this question!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
It depends on a lot of things, really.  If Santa is relaying presents from me to anyone, then chances are good that they will not be wrapped.  I appreciate that gift bags are acceptable, however, and so there is a distinct possibility that Santa will use gift bags.  Though he has a difficult time with the tissue paper.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
I think white is pretty, but colored has more memories for me.  Growing up our house was always outlined in colored lights, and our tree had colored lights, as well.  Our house NEVER had blinking or racing or any sort of moving lights, and I think if used tastefully (and it takes a lot of effort and skill to tastefully use blinking/racing/moving lights) they are ok.  But I wouldn't use them.  And I'm not a big fan of those completely blue strings of lights, either.  Now, on our Christmas tree, we would often have blinking lights intermingled with the non-blinking lights.  I liked that.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No.  I'm a discriminatory kisser.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Growing up, I couldn't wait to help put up the decorations.   This year, I have yet to do so.  Chances are VERY high that it won't happen.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
I am a fan of food in general.  I'm having a hard time coming up with something, in particular, that I like above the others.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
It was around 1984, and I had just recently gotten out of the hospital after having surgery.  I remember being at home, and the doorbell rang and in came my paternal grandparents, and they were carrying this stuffed dog that was about as big as me.  That same Christmas I received a package from my godfather that was this little teddybear that sat in this big stuffed airplane.  It wasn't so much the receiving these gifts that makes me remember it, but it was that I felt like I was the center of the world then, and that everyone was coming together for me.  And that stuffed animal means a lot to me now, as both of those grandparents have passed away.  Yeah, I'm sentimental like that. 

Or decorating the tree each year.  It was a big family thing.  My mom would bring out the boxes of ornaments and unwrap them, handing them to us to put on the tree.  There were certain ornaments that we each had to put on, like those with our names on them or those we had made in school.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I remember sitting at home and my older brother walking through the house singing something about Santa Claus being a German.  "MOM?"  I shouted, "Is Santa Claus really German?"  To which she replied, "Come here for a second."  I don't remember being particularly fazed by the fact that Santa wasn't real.  I mean, Santa wasn't real but I had been receiving gifts until that point.  Neither of my brothers believed in Santa, and they still received gifts...  So what's the big deal?  Though I was given specific instructions that if my classmates still believed in Santa Claus, I was not to do or say anything to make them think otherwise.  I think it was in 2nd grade that I learned this, and I remember shortly after that being in the classroom and my classmates Kim and Candy were there, too, and Kim was saying something about how Santa wasn't real, but Candy still thought that he was.  And I remember Kim turned to me and said, "Santa's not real, is he Mark?"  And I tried to stay neutral, knowing that Santa wasn't real, but not wanting to ruin it for Candy.  I don't remember what I said in reply to that, however.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
We normally opened most of our presents Christmas Day after church.  Though we could usually convince our parents to let us open the gifts we received from one of our uncles on Christmas Eve, because we knew they were always t-shirts. 

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Seeing as how I don't have a tree this year, there will be no decorating.  Growing up, as I mentioned earlier, we had a very particular way to decorate it.  When I was on internship, the youth from my church made some ornaments and decorated some others and helped me decorate the Christmas tree.  The one thing that makes me sad about not having a tree this year is that I won't be able to use those ornaments.  They are very special to me.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Initially, I love it.  I love the way fresh snow looks, and how it sounds when you walk on it.  I love how a blanket of white snow can make even the ugliest landscapes look beautiful.  But then, dogs pee in it and cars drive through it and it gets gross and slushy and brown, and plowed into big dirty piles.  Then it's not so cool.  And it does not seem that it will be a white Christmas this year, which I find disappointing.

12. Can you ice skate?
I have a hard enough time remaining balanced on my own feet.  I am reluctant to engage in activities that require me to put blades or wheels underneath my feet and then expect me to remain upright and balanced on hard, smooth surfaces.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
There was the stuffed dog from my favorite memory question.  His name was Henry.  Or the teddy bear I received the same year that I named Henry, Jr.  It was an adoptive family. 

But, the one I really remember being the most excited about was when I got my E.T. bike.  I remember my mom and dad telling me to close my eyes, and I waited in anticipation until they told me to open them, and then I did, and there was this bike in my living room and it was MINE!  Like in the movie where E.T. and Elliot were bike riding and then they flew in front of the moon.  It was great!  I was so excited to fly on that thing.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
The feeling of warmth and love and understanding that they seem to encourage.  That makes me wish it could be the Christmas season all year long.  But then we'd have to deal with the radically increased sense of hyper-consumerism that comes with the holidays, as well.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
The dessert I remember most was the cookies, and helping my mom decorate them with fun things like green and red sugar and cinnamon red hots and these little metallic type balls which I found out later really weren't good to eat, as I think they actually contained small traces of metal.  Or, of course, there is the strudels and kipfels that my mom would make.  Probably my absolute favorite dessert altogether.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I don't think it would seem like Christmas, to me, without the rhythm that the Church services add.  Growing up as a PK, our holidays revolved around the church.  And now, as a Pastor myself, my holiday is revolving around the church.  And, despite feeling busy and overextended at times, I love it!!!

17. What tops your tree?
For the longest time it was an angel made out of a paper plate that my oldest brother (and parents' favorite child) made.  Although, after that got old and ratty I think they switched to a star or an angel, I don't remember.  My tree on internship was topped with a star, and also an ornament that looked like a clerical collar, that was made from an old collar from a West Point uniform.  A family from church had a son at West Point, and they knew that my oldest brother was in the Navy, so we had a friendly rivalry.  They made this ornament and after it had been placed on my tree told me that it was a West Point uniform collar, and then they thought it was great that there were no Navy ornaments on my tree.  And then they did a little dance.  So I made sure every time I came over to their house that I wore one of my many Navy hooded sweatshirts.

18.Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
I love seeing the faces of the people when I give them gifts that I know they will like, or that will make them laugh.  But, I'm not gonna lie, I appreciate receiving a gift that was bought/made for me with a lot of thought.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
I love the melody of "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming"
And, I'm afraid I might receive some flack for this, but I really like the Chipmunks "hula hoop" song.
"Oh Come All Ye Faithful" is a great one, too.
And "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," while, not being very gender-inclusive, is fun to sing.
I also have a soft spot for "I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas," and I'm not even sure why.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
They're fine.  Not my favorite, but if they're there, I'll eat them.  Of course, that can be said about most candy/food item.  Especially if it's free.  And non-labor intensive.  And deep fried.  Though I don't think a deep fried candy cane would be good.  Though I can't say for sure, as I've never tried one.  I'm surprised they weren't at the state fair...

you say sermon procrastination tool, i say meme

I am nearly finished with my sermon, which is good.  But I felt the need to procrastinate so I was reading various blogs and several of them had chosen to do this meme.  For those of you who aren't sure what a meme is, according to Wikipedia it is "a unit of cultural information transferable from one mind to another."  You can click here to read more about it.

Anyway, this meme is known as the 123:5 meme.

The rules are:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next four sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

The book I grabbed is Little Chapel on the River, by Gwendolyn Bounds which is the book I just finished reading.  It was only a little closer than Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor which is the book I'm currently reading.  I decided to follow the rules, though, and pick the one that was closest.  So, here we go:

"Even chunky Lou-Lou moves quickly when she sees him coming.  When Ken parks, he leaves his engine running, trying at age eighty-eight to save time where he can, I suppose.  But I learn never to underestimate the sharpness of his mind.  Once I ask him how long he's had his car, and he looks at me, disappointed, and retorts: 'Since I bought it.'"

the boredom overtook him

and he began to blog.

Here is a random procrastination tool I have come across.  I've seen it done on several blogs, but have never done it, so I decided that I would go ahead and do it now.

For your reading enjoyment:

10 YEARS AGO:
1. i had just started college.
2. it was probably about this time, or a little bit before, that my first roommate decided he wanted to be roommates with Mike from across the hall.
3. i became really involved in campus ministry, and idolized our campus pastor.
4. i thought i wanted to be an elementary/special education teacher.
5. i moved from the second to the third floor of my dorm, and made some of my best friends at college in the process.  so thank you, mean first roommate, for being a pot smoking jerk.

5 YEARS AGO:
1. i was well into my first semester at seminary.
2. i moved into the dorm room in which i spent four years of my life.
3. i spent thursday nights with The Awesomes and the rest of the gang watching Survivor and having some of the best times of my life.
4. i convinced the admissions office at seminary that they needed to hire me.
5. i shaved my head, to show a certain professor what it was like to REALLY shave your head.

1 YEAR AGO:
1. i was almost done with my first semester of my last year at seminary.
2. i still worked in the admissions office but added a job in the youth room on campus.
3. i was approved for ordination by my candidacy committee, despite of weather delays.  i still remember one of the members on the committee, who happened to be my camp director, saying that I seem to have done things on my own timetable... which echoed my endorsement interview from two years before where I was told I march to the beat of my own drummer...
4. i was on the seminary's community dodgeball team.
5. i still had NO IDEA where i would end up in the first call assignment process.

YESTERDAY:
1. it was my day off.
2. i watched my dog wig out and run around like a maniac.
3. i went in to the office at work, but only for a brief moment.
4. i think this was the day i watched a marathon of "Next Top Model" on tv.
5. i went to the adult beverage store and found the same kind of beer that we drank at the family thanksgiving i was invited to.  so, being all sentimental, i bought some for myself and had one right when i got home.

what i am

General Description As a Networker, you enjoy new people, new situations, and new environments. You build relationships and interact with an ever-widening circle of contacts outside of the home. You tend to enjoy using your verbal skills and wit to be engaging and persuasive. Typical Areas of Strength Networkers, like you, are normally strong communicators. You are outgoing, engaging, lively, optimistic, gregarious, persuasive, fun-loving, enthusiastic, and inspiring. Typical Areas of Struggle You may sometimes be prone to talking too much, being disorganized, impulsive, too emotional, too optimistic, or exaggerating. Sometimes you tend to overcommit and overlook key details. Your Preferred Activities Because you function best when given the opportunity to influence, meet, or entertain others, you need variety and opportunities to present your new creative ideas along with a minimum of detail work. Your Communication Style You thrive when given the opportunity to communicate new ideas, concepts, or the latest information to a group.

you can go here to find out what you are.  hat tip to spidey

self promotion

So, this whole process of finding a call has been taking a bit longer for me than for many of my classmates.  I've been following the rules of the process up to this point, and we see how well that has done for me.  So I've decided that perhaps it has become time for me to take matters into my own hand and do some self-promotion.

Now, when I think about the promotions that have stuck with me, it has been memorable characters with snappy catch phrases.  Like the old woman in the "Where's the beef?" commercials.  Or the other old woman in the "Help!  I've fallen, and I can't get up!" commercials.  Or the McDonalds commercials of old with Ronald and Grimace and Mayor McCheese and the Hamburgler and the Fry Guys.  Characters that were fun and phrases that were easy to remember.

On the walk back from the campfire this evening, this is the idea that popped into my head.  So I utilized the create your own South Park character tool for some visual imagery that really pops.  I hope you enjoy.

Have MDiv, Will Travel

Don't you think that has a ring to it, and the character is pretty memorable, right?  If I send flyers like this out, with my personal information, it should get me all sorts of job offers.

Right?

me

In a moment of insane productivity, I designed myself as a South Park character.  It is now on display for all of you on the left-hand side of my blog.  I would say it is fairly true to life.

In other news, I think God is intervening.  I'm trying to download a certain CD on iTunes, but it won't let me.  It says that item is being modified or some such nonsense.  Why won't it let me spend my money inappropriately???  WHY!!??!?!???

It is late.  I am tired.  I should be going to bed.  But if I'm being honest, then I should let you know that what I'm really going to do when I'm done writing this is try to download the CD on iTunes again.  I'm reprobate.

friday five

Once again, the RevGalBlogPal  Friday Five.

1. If you were a mutant, what ability would you like to have? (think superpower)
I've always been a fan of the mutants with psychic abilities, like telepathy (communicate mentally) and telekinesis (move things with your mind)... so I think I would choose something along those lines.  Like Professor X from the X-Men.

2. Tell us about a memorable road trip you've experienced.
The summer before I went on internship, I was involved in this program through my seminary admissions office that sent representatives from the eight ELCA seminaries to various ELCA church camps throughout the US to spend time with the campers and staff and to engage in conversations about vocation and discernment.  My partner and I drove from northeast Iowa to Colorado, then up to Montana, then to Washington state, then over to North Dakota and then back to Iowa.  Out of the four teams that were sent out that summer we, by far, drove the furthest.  It was a great time and I absolutely fell in love with western Montana and Washington, and my love for the Rocky Mountains was reinforced. 

3. Do you enjoy solving riddles and working on puzzles? If so, what kinds?
Sometimes I enjoy solving these types of things.  But there are some that I cannot do.  Sudoku is one that just makes my head hurt.  But I like crossword puzzles.

4. Take two of your phobias and combine them to make a campy horror/disaster flick. What would it be called?
Tom Cruise in High Places

5. Just how batsh*t crazy is Tom Cruise, anyway?
He creeps me out.  See question #4.

breakin' the law

Technically, I'm not supposed to have access to the internet right now.  No, it's not because of something I've done.  I'm not being punished at all.  They are retooling our campus e-mail system, and so that requires the network to be down.  All weekend.  Supposedly it was going to be down at 4:30 or something like that today.  But after I got away from those crazy pygmies in the youth room, I decided to just check and see.  I figured that it would be fruitless, but I just was curious.  So I double clicked on my internet explorer icon (which, on my desktop is the head of Strong Bad) and, lo and behold, it connected.  So now I'm surfing, getting my fix before they take it away for the. entire. weekend.

Also, tonight is the worship service for the middlers (second year MDiv students) who will be getting their internship assignments.  I remember getting mine and being extra super especially nervous.  It ended up being a great experience, which some of you shared through my previous blog.  I can't wait to find out who is going to be blessed with my internship congregation.  I will tell them all sorts of good and amazing things about the people there.  It will be fun.

For those of you who are curious, I have yet to call my new synod office.  I keep thinking that I will, but then my life gets in the way and by the time I think I will call, it's past normal business hours and I would love to talk to the assistant to the bishop in person.  So, tomorrow I have no classes so I will contact her then.  Get off my back.

Well, I am going to go check out the other webpages I need to in order to get my internet fix before it's gone.  Have a great weekend and I'll see you when I can get back online!!!

the google picture post

Instructions: Use the picture you like best from the first (no clicking around for 44 pages) page of the search results on Google Image.

1.  The city and state of the town where you grew up, using no quotation marks

2.  The town where you currently reside.

3.  Your name, first and last, but again without using quotes.

4.  Your grandmother's name.

5.  Your favorite food.

6.  Your favorite drink.

7.  Your favorite smell.

hat tip to pomomusings